Territory



(No Model.) 7

- J. GOLQUHOUN. I

PROCESS OF TREATING COPPER MATTE.

No. 604,023. Patented May 17, 1898.

VVZizz emsea.

M flaw JAMES COLQUHOUN, OF CLIFTON, ARIZONA TERRITORY.

PROCESS OF TREATING COPPER MATTE.

SPEGIFIGATION formingpart of Letters Batent No. 604,023, dated May 17, 1898.

A li ation fil d November 3, 1897- Serial No. 657,227- (No model.)

' such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to reducing copper ore; and its object is to improve the method of treating the matte produced by the smelting-furnace.

In the modern method of converting copper matte into the so-called Bessemer copper the usual steps are as follows:

First. The smelting of the raw ores in cupola or reverberatory furnaces for the production of a copper matte containing about fifty per cent. copper.

Second. The copper matte, together with the slag from the furnace, is allowed to flow from the smelting-furnace into a large settling-pot, (usually about four feet deep and about twelve feet in diameter,) the copper matte being caught in the settling-pot, while the slag is allowed to flow over and away from the top of the said settling-pot. When the matte is required, it is tapped from the bottom of the settling-pot and allowed to flow into a ladle which when filled with copper matte to the required height is hoisted to the converter and tilted so that the said matteis poured into the converter, where it is converted into metallic or so-called Bessemer copper.

Third. In place of two (and more generally) the matte instead of being caught in settlers is dumped on the ground and allowed to become cool, when it is broken up in pieces and hoisted to a smelting-furnace, in which it is smelted as required by the converter.

Fourth. The molten matte handled by has been expelled, when metallic copper remains and is poured into suitable molds.

Fifth. My improvement consists in dispensing with methods two and three, which are objectionable on the following grounds: In method two the settler can only be used on furnaces having very large capacities. It interferes with the proper working of the smelting-furnace by making it impossible for the workmen to Work with any degree of comfort in the presence of sucha mass of molten material. It has no control over the heat of the matte, there being no provision for heating the matte in the event of its becoming chilled, as it does occasionally. It does not permit of any alteration in the grade of the matte, a very essential point for the economical working of the converters, and it is liable to spring leaks and cause great loss and trouble. Method three is objectionable 011 the ground that it is too expensive, the cold matte costing nearly as much to remelt it as would be the smelting of an equal quantity of raw ore.

My invention consists in using a separatelyheated receptacle, preferably a reverberatory furnace of the ordinary type, to receive the molten matte from the smelting-furnace and store it until it is required by the converter. The reverberatory furnace may be so placed that when only one smelting-furnace is used the matte may be tapped directly into the re verberatory. Where a number of smeltingfurnaces are used, the matte may be conveyed in pots or cars from each furnace and dumped into the reverberatory.

The advantages of my invention 'are as follows:

First. If the matte is not ofthe required temperature, it can .be easily and cheaply brought to that temperature.

Second. If the matte is too low in grade, its grade can be easily raised by the addition of higher-grade mattes, of oxid ores, or by any of the other usual methods.

Third. If the matte is too high in grade, its grade can be reduced by the addition of iron pyrites or by an addition of lower-grade matte.

Fourth. The slags made in converting copper matte carry a considerable percentageof copper, varying from one and one-half to five per cent. By the ordinary method they are either remelted or thrown away. By my fine, in the blast-furnace.

method I simply pour'them into the aforesaid reverberatory furnace, exposing them to the action of said furnace, whereby they are rendered practically free of their copper and may be skimmed off as waste slags. I

To sum up briefly, the reverberatory fur nace used in this manner in the process of bessemerizing copper serves, first, as an agent to control the temperature of the copper matte; second, as an agent to control the grade of the copper matte, and, third, as an agent to clean the slags produced in the converter or in any other way.

I am aware that a reverberatory furnace has long been used for smelting copper ores and that matte is taken from said furnace to be bessemerized, just as is done from a cupola smelting-furnace; but it will be observed that I use it not for smelting ores, but for distinctly different purposes, as before speci- 1ed.

As far as my knowledge goes a reverbera tory furnace has never been used for the purposes mentioned in connection with bessemerizing or for any other purpose.

I am also aware that a reverberatory furnace has been used as an adjunct to a cupolafurnace, so that the coarse ore can be smelted in the cupola and the resulting metal and slag conveyed into the reverberatory, where it is mixed with fine ores, and the smelting is continued to produce metallic copper. The object of this proposed method is to avoid the loss by flue-dust, which occurs when fine ores are smelted in a cupola; but this is not the purpose or mode of operation of my invention. In the first place I smelt all my ore, coarse or I do not attempt to obtain greater speed in my furnace by screening out the fine ore and treating it in a reverberatory furnace, nor do I attempt to save flue-dust or to make metallic copper in the reverberatory furnace. No slag fiows from my blast-furnace into the reverberatory furnace. I simply take the matte produced in the blast-furnace, dump it into the reverberatory, store it there, alter its grade, if necessary, and use it while there for removing the copper contained in the slags from the Bessemer process.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a copper-reducing plant embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same.

The blast-furnaces A may be of any suitable construction and any number may be used. They are conveniently located with reference to the reverberatory furnace B, which has a stack B and is protected by a shed B The reverberatory has an opening 1), into which the molten matte from the 011- polas A can be dumped, and a spout 1), through which the matte can be drawn from the reverberatory into a ladle C, mounted on a car 0. The track 0, on which the car runs, leads to a shed D, in which is an overhead electric crane E, by means of which the ladle can be conveyed to the converters F.

The drawings are more or less diagrammatic and do not attempt to show all the details of such a plant, nor is it necessary that the' arrangement shown should always be followed. It is given merely as an illustration of one way to carry out the invention.

The process may be briefly described as follows: The raw ore is smelted in the blastfurnace. The matte, composed of copper, iron, and sulfur, is tapped into pots and dumped into the reverberatory furnace. Here it is kept molten and its temperature and grade regulated. when desired, it is tapped into the ladle, which is run over to the converter-shed, hoisted by the crane, and

its contents dumped into a converter. Air

' is blown through the molten mass until the i iron is slagged off, the sulfur eliminated, and 1 nothing but metallic copper remains, which is then poured into ingot-molds.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. As an improvement in the art of reducing copper by the Bessemer process, drawing off the molten matte from the blast-furnace, keeping it in a molten condition by an independent controllable source of heat, and altering its grade by the addition of suitable agents, substantially as described.

2. As an improvement in the art of reducing copper by the Bessemer process, storing the matte in a reverberatory furnace, and adding slags from the converter in order to clean them, substantially as described.

3. In apparatus for reducing copper by the Bessemer process, the combination with a blast-furnace and a converter, of a receptacle for the matte from the blast-furnace, and a separate furnace for maintaining and regulating the temperature of the contents of said receptacle, substantially as described.

4. In apparatus for reducing copper by the Bessemer process, the combination with a blast-furnace and a converter, of a reverberatory furnace to receive the molten matte from the blast-furnace and store it until required by the converter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES COLQUHOUN.

Witnesses:

J. G. HOPKINS, A. C. MOLE. 

